


(Not-At-All) Dirty Little Secret

by ReddieOrNot (cajungirlkye)



Series: ReddieOrNot's Fix-It-Palooza [3]
Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti)
Genre: Eddie Kaspbrak Loves Richie Tozier, M/M, National Coming Out Day, Post-Canon Fix-It, Richie Tozier Loves Eddie Kaspbrak, Sorry for some reason Stan stays dead in all of my fics, The Losers Club Ships It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-12
Updated: 2019-10-12
Packaged: 2020-12-09 16:27:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20997830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cajungirlkye/pseuds/ReddieOrNot
Summary: On National Coming Out Day, Richie gathers the Losers together for dinner before the first show in his new stand-up tour.After the show, he & Eddie have a Conversation.





	(Not-At-All) Dirty Little Secret

**Author's Note:**

> In honor of National Coming Out Day. For my LGBT+ friends & readers -- you're seen & heard. Don't ever let anyone make you feel less than your true worth.
> 
> I know there's tons of "Richie comes out during a show" fics floating around, but I haven't run across many where he comes out to the Losers, plus you can never have too many fix-its where Eddie lives and he & Richie profess their love for each other.
> 
> (Yeah my writing has all pretty much become 'how many ways can Reddie get together?' but oh well, I love these two soft boys so much that I refuse to stop writing them right now.)

Richie Tozier checked his phone one last time as he finished rehearsing for his new stand-up show, pulling up the Losers group text thread and scrolling back to the beginning of the conversation about his show that night. **Hey so, uh, my new tour is kicking off at the Laugh-Out-Loud Comedy Club in San Antonio on October 11th and I'd love for you all to be there. I'll be there all weekend if you guys want to come.**

He had held his breath as the replies started rolling in from everyone but the one person he most wanted to hear from.

**BEV: Ben and I will be there!**

**BEN: We wouldn't miss it for the world.**

**MIKE: Of course, man.**

**BILL: Absolutely.**

Finally, after what seemed like forever (although it probably was really only 20 minutes) the last reply came.

**EDDIE:** **I'll be there.**

Richie had let out a huge sigh of relief and responded with, **Thanks, guys. I'll tell my manager to arrange everything and get you all VIP tickets. Thinking we can do dinner before the show. **

**BILL: Sounds great!**

**MIKE: I'm down.**

**BEV: Losers' Reunion Dinner! :) <3**

**EDDIE: No Chinese though. I still have an aversion to fortune cookies.**

Richie had laughed before replying.** I'm with Eddie on this one. I'll check for some recommendations.**

They had ultimately decided on The Esquire, a tavern near the club that had come highly recommended by some of the locals from the club.

Richie's manager had booked everyone at the same hotel that Richie was staying at for the weekend, at Richie's insistence. Since Richie had to rehearse, he had told the other Losers that he would just meet them for dinner and had arranged for a car to take them from the hotel to dinner and the club and back. He had arranged for his own transportation just in case what he had planned tonight didn't go well.

A new message came in. 

**BILL: Richie, you said a CAR was picking us up from the hotel. This is too much.**

Richie grinned. **Technically, a limo ** ** _is_ ** ** a car. Besides, I told you guys you were getting the VIP treatment.**

**EDDIE: What he means is thank you.**

**BILL: Richie knows what I mean.**

**EDDIE: We'll see you soon.**

Richie's mouth went dry. He grabbed the bottle of water he had stashed by the microphone and took a long swig. _ Showtime. _

He climbed into the Uber he had called and greeted his driver, then practiced the speech he had prepared in his head the entire ride over to the Esquire, his hand shaking nervously. _ Come on, Tozier. Get your shit together. You can battle a psychotic killer space-clown twice, you can do this. _

Soon (_ too soon? _) the car stopped in front of the Esquire.

Richie thanked his driver and headed inside, taking a deep breath as he headed to the private room he had reserved for their party.

"What's up, fuckers?" he said, entering the room.

"Richie!" a chorus greeted him.

Ben wrapped him in a hug first, followed by Bev, who also gave him a kiss on the cheek. Mike, then Bill shook his hand, then finally, Eddie. 

_ Eddie, Eddie, Eddie. _ Eddie was wearing jeans, a button-down shirt that was open at the collar, and a black leather jacket, and Richie honestly thought that Eddie had never looked hotter. He suddenly got nervous again. _ Fuck, I can't do this, _ he thought. _ Actually, shit, I have to. It's not right to let them find out later with everyone else. _

They sat and ordered drinks, with Richie making his a double. He had promised his manager that he wouldn't get drunk before the show, but he never said anything about a little liquid courage.

After their drinks were delivered and they had placed their orders, Bill had raised his glass. "I'd like to make a toast to the man of the hour -- Richie, who has brought us together -- but we're not fighting a multi-dimensional demon clown this time, are we?"

Richie looked around. "Well, no, I don't see Eds's mom anywhere, do you?"

"Hey, fuck you, bro," Eddie said, but with no heat to it.

Richie cleared his throat. _ No time like the present _. "Actually, I do have something to talk to you guys about."

Five pairs of eyes watched him expectantly.

He fiddled with his glass. "I, uh… I'm, well…" He looked up to the ceiling as if it could give him the courage to say what he needed to say.

He felt a hand on his wrist, then glanced down to see Eddie's black leather-jacketed arm give him a gentle squeeze before retracting. Suddenly his own words came back to him: _ You're braver than you think _.

He took a deep breath. "I'm gay."

Silence followed his statement until Beverly stood up, walked around the table, and wrapped him in a hug. "Thank you for being brave enough to tell us," she said, which prompted the others to also get up and give Richie a hug and their own words of affirmation.

Richie was probably imagining things, but it felt like Eddie lingered in his embrace a little longer than necessary. He didn't have time to dwell on the thought though because soon after, their food arrived.

Dinner went normally, with the only mention of Richie's sexuality being Ben asking politely if Richie was seeing anyone.

Richie shook his head. "No, no, not seeing anyone right now. Honestly there really haven't been too many guys I've been interested in lately." He had shot a quick glance over at Eddie, who was currently studying his gluten-free turkey burger like it was the most fascinating thing he had ever seen. _ Just one in particular _.

After dinner, Richie joined the others in the limo on the way to the club. With six people in the car, it was a bit crowded, but Richie definitely didn't mind Eddie sitting close to him.

Once they had gotten to the club, Richie headed backstage while the Losers went to their seats.

Soon it was time for the show. Richie pumped himself up while he waited to be announced. _ You fucking did it, man. You came out to your friends and the world didn't end. You're not dirty, or wrong, or broken. You're still Richie. _

He was surprisingly calm as he made his way onstage, knowing that he had the support and love of the people who mattered most to him.

"What the fuck is up, San Antonio?" he greeted the cheering audience. "How you guys doing tonight?"

He grabbed the mic off of the stand. "It's so fucking great to be kicking off my new tour here. So I was near my hotel earlier, and…"

Richie fed off of the energy of the crowd, getting more laughs with his all-original jokes than he had ever gotten with his old writer's stuff.

"So I had my sexual awakening at 13," he continued, grabbing ahold of the mic stand for support. "And I'm gonna preface this by reminding you guys that I grew up in the 80's. Any Gen-X'ers in the house?"

Hoots and whistles pierced the air.

"Awesome, Ok, so yeah, anyway, I had my sexual awakening at 13. I had this group of friends, and the summer I turned 13 we all went swimming at the quarry in my hometown, and this group of friends had this one particular girl - you know the type. I mean she was beautiful -- milky white skin, fiery red hair, she was just gorgeous." He sent Bev a cheeky wink before continuing. "So anyway, all us guys are staring at her while she was sunbathing and all of a sudden it hit me -- I had no attraction towards her what-so-ever."

He paused and let his words sink in before continuing. "Then I look over to another one of my friends and it was like a chorus of angels started singing. Beautiful, amazing girl -- nothing. Pale, skinny little white guy -- instant boner. You guys have no idea how hot a pair of long legs in some short-shorts and a fanny pack were to teenage me. They say if you jerk off too much you could go blind…" He exaggeratedly pushed his glasses further up oh his face. "Well, I guess that was pretty much the truth in my case." He paused as the crowd laughed.

"So yeah, in honor of National Coming Out Day, surprise, motherfuckers!" Richie chuckled as the audience cheered. "Thank you so much for being so supportive and such a great crowd -- I'll see you next time!" He waved before making his way off stage.

"Richie, that was brilliant!" his manager said, handing him a napkin to wipe the sweat off his brow. "You killed it! Listen, I've already been fielding calls from _ Out _ Magazine and a couple of the late-night talk shows…"

Richie shook his head. "Can we talk about this tomorrow?" he said. "Tonight I just want to celebrate with my friends." 

"Sure, sure. I had them escorted back to the limo since you already did your meet & greet with the other VIPs."

"Thanks, man." Richie tossed the napkin in a nearby bin and made his way to the back of the club, where the limo was waiting for him.

He threw open the door and climbed in. "So what did you guys--" he cut himself off.

The limo was empty except for one person. Eddie looked up from where he was sitting. "Hey, Richie."

Richie looked around. "Where's everyone else?"

Eddie looked uncomfortable. "They, uh, they said they'd meet us back at the hotel and went ahead and got an Uber. Can we talk?"

Richie froze. _ Shit _. "Um, yeah, sure Eds." He closed the door behind him and made his way over to the seat, leaving a good bit of space between him & Eddie. "What's up?"

Eddie bit his lip. "I didn't announce this during dinner because I didn't want to overshadow you coming out, but… I divorced Myra once I got back to New York."

Richie had been so distracted by Eddie in his black leather jacket, exuding just a *_ hint _* of bad-boy appeal, that he had never really looked at Eddie's hands. Sure enough, Eddie's ring finger no longer bore the gold band that he had been sporting the last time Richie had seen him. "Holy shit, dude. I honestly wasn't sure if you had it in you."

Eddie smiled softly. "Well, a wise man once told me that I was braver than I thought, so as soon as I got home I packed the rest of my stuff and told Myra that I wanted a divorce. I played it safe for so many years and was so warped by my mother that I pretty much wound up marrying her clone. Myra was just like her, even down to her buying my clothes."

Richie blushed and cast his eyes downward. "Um, yeah, I kind of noticed you looked different tonight. You uh, you look good."

Eddie shrugged and smiled shyly, then took Richie's hand. "Tonight, in your act, when you publicly came out… You said you had been attracted to one of your friends who wore short-shorts and a fanny pack. You were talking about me, weren't you?"

Richie squeezed his eyes shut. _ Fuck, fuck, fuck. _ "Um--"

"Rich? Please tell me that wasn't just part of your act." Eddie's voice sounded so hopeful that Richie's heart squeezed. He dragged his eyes back up to Eddie's. "No, not at all. Shit, Eds, you have no idea how much I lo--"

He was cut off by Eddie's lips on his own.

_ Hoooooooly fuck. _ Richie melted into the kiss, scooting closer and reaching up to gently caress Eddie's face. "Oh my God, Eds…" he muttered against Eddie's lips.

Eddie broke the kiss. "I know it's probably obvious by now, but I'm gay too," he replied. "And I'm in love with you. I've been in love with you for over 28 years now. Ever since we were kids."

"Fucking Christ, I love you too," Richie said breathlessly, pulling Eddie back to him for another kiss. He licked his way into Eddie's mouth, savoring the taste of mint (_ wait, did Eddie actually fucking brush his teeth while he was waiting on me? _ he briefly wondered _ ) _ and Eddie.

Once breathing became a necessity, they broke apart and Richie leaned his forehead against Eddie's. "Jesus, this is like the beginning of every single one of my childhood fantasies come true," he panted, his hands still on Eddie's face.

Eddie wrapped his fingers around Richie's hands. "Mine too." He turned and placed a kiss against Richie's palm where his oath scar used to be, a kiss so tender that it made Richie want to cry. 

Suddenly the limo stopped and the driver's voice came over the speaker. "Mr. Tozier, we've arrived back at your hotel."

"Uh, thanks," Richie replied, before turning to Eddie. "So what do we do now?"

Eddie smirked. "Well, first we need to go have another coming-out with our friends in the hotel bar, then after that I'm dragging you upstairs, where we're going to fulfill the rest of our childhood fantasies."

And they did. Repeatedly.


End file.
